


Legends Are Told

by MidnightBunnyy



Series: Oneshots I wrote after midnight [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ive been told its bittersweet, Light Angst, Songfic, hopeful-ish ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:46:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightBunnyy/pseuds/MidnightBunnyy
Summary: Heracles, Achilles, Theseus, Perseus, Jason, they all got their stories told.They told those stories to their kids, and their kids told their kids, each time with less and less detail, until there is no story to tell.The seven are forgot as if they didn't save them all.
Series: Oneshots I wrote after midnight [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957087
Comments: 5
Kudos: 55





	Legends Are Told

**Author's Note:**

> The song is 'Centuries' by Fall Out Boy (although, except at the beginning and end, I left out the chorus). Since I always think of them not being remembered when I hear the song, I decided to write it instead of working on a new update for literally any of my fics/things I am semi obligated to do.  
> ToA does not exist (and please don't spoil ToN in the comments I haven't read it yet), but there may be some details I've taken and twisted a bit to fit the story line here.

_Some legends are told_

Heracles, Achilles, Daphne, Perseus, Jason, they all got their stories told.

They weren't so lucky.

_Some turn to dust or to gold_

Percy's first monster, a Fury, and King Midas, who Jason, Piper, and Leo faced on their quest to free Hera.

They told those stories to their kids, and their kids told their kids, each time with less and less detail, until there is no story to tell. All that remains of their sacrifices is dust and ungrateful children who don't realize that the reason they have a cabin or an eagle to turn and look at is because of the bravery of Percy Jackson, of Hazel Levesque, of Annabeth Chase and Frank Zhang, and countless others.

_But you will remember me_

_Remember me for centuries_

Chiron will occasionally tell campers of their deeds. He will tell them how Percy Jackson reclaimed Zeus's lightning bolt and of how Thalia Grace stood on Half-Blood Hill, where the pine tree she was turned into after defending two other demigods from a pack of hellhounds still stands.

_And just one mistake_

_Is all it will take_

_We'll go down in history_

Percy actually does get into history books, as the kid who went missing, blew up the St. Louis Arch, reappeared in Los Angeles after a devastating earthquake, and claimed to have fought to get away from his kidnapper.

They still don't know what really happened.

_Remember me for centuries_

He's soon replaced by more interesting topics, like the first woman on Mars.

_Mummified my teenage dreams_

_No, it's nothing wrong with me_

_The kids are all wrong_

_The story's all off_

They twist the details, not giving credit to the real heroes.

It was Clarisse who slayed the drakon, not Percy or Annabeth or anybody else in the Battle of Manhattan. They don't remember her, though. 

The glory is given to those who don't want it, instead of the ones who actually did it.

_Heavy metal broke my heart_

She dies a few years afterward. A fight with a dracaena. A sword right through the heart.

It was a death she would have wanted. An honorable one, one where she fought to defend her and her family, Chris and her daughter Silena.

Hardly anyone who didn't know her even knows that she did all that.  
  
_Come on, come on and let me in_

_The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints_

_And this is supposed to match_

_The darkness that you felt_

No one remembers Nico and Reyna's journey through the shadows to bring the statue that now stands guard over camp and New Athens. No one remembers how he nearly faded away, lost to memories and darkness. 

The strength it took, the courage, to fight them off and prevent a war is lost to time.

_I never meant for you to fix yourself_

_And I can't stop 'til the whole world knows my name_

_'Cause I was only born inside my dreams_

No one remembers Octavian, flawed as he was. No one remembers that although he seemed crazy, he was trying to do the best for his people, pushing for a new leader and to attack before they did. Reyna wasn't replacing Jason after months of him being missing, then they elect a kid they knew for all of two days. Then his friends bomb the city.

No one, of course, realizes this. For all that he's remembered, he remembered as a power hungry villain.

_Until you die for me, as long as there's a light, my shadow's over you_

_'Cause I, I am the opposite of amnesia_

_And you're a cherry blossom_

_You're about to bloom_

_You look so pretty, but you're gone so soon_

Who could forget Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite strong enough to charm a primordial goddess to sleep, to make a automaton come to life. 

Why should we remember? They say. She was just another weak, stuck up child of Aphrodite. Clearly someone else did it. Someone stronger, someone who could save their friends instead of someone who faints at the sight of blood.

As she cries over Jason's body, killed by a monster on his yacht, she vows never to let that happen again. She would rather die than watch someone else she loves die before her eyes.

No one bothers to remember the sacrifice she made for her younger siblings.

No one bothers to remember any of their stories.

_We've been here forever_

The gods, the gods could lift a finger to help them be remembered. 

They don't.

They're gone so quickly, after all...

_And here's the frozen proof_

Khione comes after Leo one last time, freezing him before he can even notice the goddess behind him.

_I could scream forever_

Hazel dies screaming as her own tunnel collapses on her and Frank.

_We are the poisoned youth_

All demigods are. Because of who their parents are, they will live in fear for their whole life.

Annabeth and Nico both die to actual poison. Annabeth from a two headed snake bite, Nico from giving into the whispers of shadow travel.

_Some legends are told_

Atalanta and Theseus', yes, but not the ones about Annabeth Chase, architect of Olympus, Frank Zhang, praetor of the Twelfth Legion, or Zoe Nightshade.

_Some turn to dust or to gold_

Percy is the only one who dies a peaceful death, going in his sleep.

_But you will remember me_

Their children try to hold on, and Thalia tells everyone stories about them whenever she, Reyna and the rest of the Hunters are at camp.

_Remember me for centuries_

The hippocampi still hang in the Poseidon cabin.

_And just one mistake_

_Is all it will take_

_We'll go down in history_

_Remember me for centuries_

But they don't.

_We'll go down in history_

_Remember me for centuries_

One day, a camper finds ten handwritten books, in Ancient Greek and Latin, in the Big House attic. _The Lightning Thief,_ the first one reads.

She opens the book. A picture of nine laughing teenagers falls out. She picks it up and sets it aside before turning to the first page.

_Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood..._

**Author's Note:**

> Visit me on my tumblr, [duchessmb!](https://duchessmb.tumblr.com/#)  
> Small edits to grammar and phrasing made 10/10/20.


End file.
